Genuine Smile
by FaithfulGold
Summary: I wasn't always like. Did you know I used to smile, too? Those smiles were always for her... Orochimaru/OC


Orochimaru's POV

Some people call me crazy, delirious, and mad, but this doesn't seem to faze me at all. As long as there was one person in the world that understood me then I was fine, or that is what I thought so long ago... I wasn't always this eccentric, but of course who in the world would be able to remember those times when I was actually like a human, or at least with human emotions... I remember. She was always by my side when my worst moment flooded into my life, like a life raft, she would always save me from the depression that would overtake me back in those days. In her embrace I would feel secure, almost as if this dreary world we live in is actually a sanctuary for this tired body.  
I knew I was getting old, and that was the whole reason why I brought in that Sasuke Uchiha. Kabuto and I were walking down one of the dark damp paths in the headquarters heading towards Sasuke Uchiha's room to get him ready for afternoon training. He has grown over the years, and his aging has made me remember my unpleasant past. I hate to admit it, but that arrogant brat reminds me of myself when I was younger in Konohagakure. It's all because of him that I'm having these crazy thoughts of when I actually used to be 'sane' to normal people. It was all because of HER that I was able to stay like the way I was back then and actually be happy about my life. Even though I never really showed it, I treasured all of my precious moments back then that were of HER and HER only. I miss her...

_*Flashback*_

_The sun could be felt on my skin as I was laying down on the grass in the meadow. Soft gentle winds caressed my face as I appreciated the peace around me, well, that is until a special someone interrupted that peace._

"Orochimaru..." A sweet melodic voice whispers in my ear. I opened my eyes slightly to be able to see soft long black tresses of straight hair cascading down gracefully from a face that I knew all too well. Her face was almost on top of mine, since she was leaning in to see my face while I'm lying down. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkled in the light as she gazed down at me, and her small visible smile was a welcome to my eyes. __

"What is it, Gloria? Is something wrong?" I asked in a quiet voice. I was too lazy to actually get up to fully face the young girl facing me. She was at least three years younger than me, but her eyes always had a glint of wisdom in them that most people didn't have at her age. I was thirteen and the girl was ten.

"Your mother is looking for you. Since it's a day off from training with your team and stuff your mother thought that you would be over exerting yourself without them, since no one can stop your vigorous training. She thought that you passed out somewhere from exhaustion." She said in her sweet melodic voice.

"You should already know that I'm fine, Gloria. I can take care of myself even if my mother isn't there with me." I said while giving a small smirk. I could already tell that Gloria was just making my mother's worries as an excuse so she could check up on me. The other person that truly worried about me, other than my mother, is Gloria. This is especially since she and I have been with each other ever since I was five. Our parents were good friends with each other, but Gloria lost her parents when she turned six, and it's been 4 years since then. She and I have gotten a lot closer because of that, but she must be scared of losing loved ones since she always pesters me to be safe during missions.

I just gently smiled at her and patted her head like a dog. All she did was giggle at the small intimate contact, and that just made me smile wider.

'If only all of our days were calm like this.' I thought in my head as the love for this little girl grew in my heart...

_*End of Flashback*_

"We are here, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said with an emotionless tone as we stopped in front of Sasuke's door. I just nodded and opened the door without knocking, interrupting whatever Sasuke was doing before we barged in. As we peered into the dark room, I could see he was just laying down on his bed just doing nothing while starring off into space with his hands behind his back. He glanced over to us, sighed, got up, and walked slowly to us without a word knowing that his training for the day was about to start. I just watched him with my usual grin. Most people would say it was a creepy grin, but its not like I can help it anymore, I have forgotten to smile from the heart after I lost her...

_*Flashback* (Orochimaru is 16 and Gloria is 13)_

_I was getting ready to go to war with my team, Tsunade and Jiraiya. It was at least well past midnight, and my team and I were going to meet up at the village gate at 2 a.m. and head to the front lines. I don't feel pain or sorrow for being forced to participate in this war. I'm a shinobi, and I am expected to lay down my life for this pathetic excuse for a village. I've lost my parents, so there is nothing to live and protect here, but I know this a total lie. The only thing so far that I have worth protecting was and will always be Gloria. She's stuck with me for all these years, and has helped me get through the pain of loss when others couldn't. She and I were the only ones left for each other, and it pained me to leave her all alone during these troubled times._

I know that she can take care of herself since she is strong. It wasn't financial support that I was worried about for Gloria, for I know she could always get by somehow by herself, it was the tugging in my chest that she would find someone other than me to go to after I was gone. I know that I'm strong, but there is always the possibility that there will be someone stronger than me in battle, and I could end up being the loser. I wasn't worried about Gloria handling life by herself, but that she would find someone else to replace me with. The thought of her hugging, being intimate with another guy, and holding hands with a person unknown to me just made my heart ache. You could say that I almost cried, but only almost.

I placed the final items I needed into my pouch and started to head out. I was early by 30 minutes, but I didn't mind that I would have to wait outside for my team mates. I wanted the peace and quiet before leaving my village. It was dark with only the moonlight shedding its light to light the path to the gates. A light shower of rain that could be barely felt against my skin, but still making everything damp, was gently pouring. I looked to the ground as I walked, troubled that I was a coward to not even say goodbye to her at her house before I left for war, not even knowing that I would come back alive. Before I could continue thinking about this, I felt another presence in front of me. It was a weak presence, not that of a shinobi's, that was present in front of me. I looked up to see the familiar face of Gloria glaring at me.

'Crap.' I thought to myself. I didn't want to see Gloria crying before I left, so I never told her when I was going to be leaving for war. Of course she would get angry at me if I didn't tell her something so important, especially if she wasn't going to see me ever again. Tsunade or Jiraiya must have told her that we were leaving today at 2. I stopped walking a few feet away from her, but I kept my head down knowing that she would be scowling at me right now. But instead of a yell, angry scream, or crying all I felt were a warm pair of arms wrapping themselves against my waist, while a warm forehead pressed itself against my chest...

"You idiot." she whispered with soft sobs. "How could you do this to me? Leaving before saying good is the one thing you promised not to do!" I could hear her quiet sobs as she continued to cry for me. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling her warmth as I did. I buried my face into her for probably the last time in my life. I enjoyed her warmth and the smell of her hair that smelled of the sun.

"I'm sorry, Gloria. I didn't want to make you cry when I said goodbye." I whispered barely audible to anyone but her. She shook her head as I said this.

"You're such an idiot, Oro! Either way I'd be crying, so what's the point of not wanting to make me cry?! I wanted to at least say goodbye to my best friend before he leaves me, and maybe even give you a good luck charm before you set out..."

"Thank you, Gloria, for caring so much about me." She looked up at me with tear stained cheeks. I gave her a smile that only I would give her when we were alone with each other. I never smiled for anyone but her, since she was special to me. She may think of me as a brother or a best friend, but I think of her so much more than she will ever know, or probably ever feel for me. It always hurt me to know that she would never feel the same way about me the way I feel about her.

"What's this good luck charm that you want to give me?" I said while wiping away the rest of her tears.

She stayed silent and avoided eye contact with me after that. I could feel her body heat up a bit, and her body was a lot more tense than the first time she embraced me. After a couple of seconds she relaxed under my arms again, and looked me in the eye.

"Orochimaru, if I'm to give you the good luck charm then you have to come closer. It's going to be a secret that you and I will only know about okay?" I nodded in agreement, but I was confused at what she said. I always knew what she would be thinking about, but this was just one of those times that she just completely surprises me.

Under her request, I leaned down next to her face, expecting hear a 'good luck' or 'I'll pray for' sort of deal, but none of that came. It was the exact opposite of what I thought; no words were passed between her lips, instead the next thing I knew was that her lips were crashed against my own... I was surprised by her sudden actions, but it wasn't as if I wasn't enjoying it; to be honest I've been waiting for this for a long time now. I returned her kiss and kissed back with more passion that I have ever known, we didn't separate until we both ran out of breath, and even after that we kissed again and again. When we finally stopped, we were panting hard for breath and leaned our foreheads together to be as close as humanly possible. We stayed in that position, wishing that this moment would last forever, but all good things must end at some point or another. We parted so we could arrive at the gate before Tsunade and Jiraiya so we could have a few moments alone with each other before I left. Walking hand in hand we slowly made our way to the gate.

When we finally go there, we found that we were the only ones to be there. Making full use of this situation, we both kissed and embraced each other until the first sign of someone coming over was detected. Instead of being too intimate, we embraced each other until the last minute. Jiraiya surprisingly didn't say anything as he came over to us as the last person to arrive. Gloria kissed my forehead one last time before saying goodbye, and reminding me of my promise. She didn't leave the gate until she couldn't see us anymore as we faded away through the forest...

*End of Flashback*

'Ahhh...those were the days.' I thought as I concluded Sasuke and my training session. He walked away with an emotionless grunt, and I just smirked at that cheeky cocky attitude of his. I dismissed Kabuto, so he could go do his lab experiments without me being a nuisance to him. After the training session, I immediately walked to my chambers before I collapsed from exhaustion. I started remembering the past again, seeing her face flash by my eyes as I sat on my bed. Remembering just made me miss her more than ever, like how we would cuddle with each other just so we could get closer to each other, how we would whisper 'I love you' over and over again just so we could confirm our love all over again, and how I would love having her in my lap as I would play with her fingers just so I could see the ring that branded her as mine... Yes, those were the days that I branded people with rings as mine instead of curse marks, but then again she was the only one that I would have ever branded back then.

*_Flashback* (Orochimaru is 21 and Gloria is 18)_

Its been a few years since the 2nd Shinobi War, and my team and I have been titled as the Legendary Sannin. I fulfilled my promise to Gloria, and came back with no worries whatsoever. After being one of the only ones to survive and come back to the village with full honors, Gloria embraced me with all of her strength, and kissed my face all over again and again. She didn't care who saw, for the only thing that was on her mind was me at that moment in time. I was so happy that she only thought of me, and even more so when I found that she didn't see anyone while I was away for those years.

Gloria's appearance changed drastically. Instead of that sweet girl I left a few years back, she became a beautiful woman. I had a right to be worried that someone might take her away from me, especially since I saw a couple of guys giving me the evil eye whenever she hugs me or holds my hand in public. She always assured me that I was the only one for her, and time and time again she would always stay true to her word. Whenever I saw an Uchiha or Hyuuga male from the branch or main branch walking past us all the women in the streets would swoon over them, but Gloria would just pass by them as if they were mere flies to her. She would only truly smile for me, and I was the only man that she would be so intimate with.

Our love soon came to a point that we couldn't separate, so we decided to live with each other. When Gloria turned 18, I took her to the meadows that we both loved near the village and proposed to her properly. I would always remember the overjoyed tear streaked face of hers as she said yes to my proposal...

As months passed us by with happiness, Gloria and I prepared for our wedding. I got assigned to Root during this time, but I never told Gloria about it. There was no need to tell her, for I would always be successful in my missions and there was no need for her to worry about such small things. We were a month away from our wedding now, but something felt a little off. Everything around me was normal, but the aura of death wouldn't leave me alone. I continued with my plans for the wedding with Gloria beside me, but later I was summoned to go take a mission privately. Gloria left as I told her to go home for the rest of the evening, she quietly obeyed knowing that non-ninjas shouldn't be in the affairs of working ninjas. I took a mission from Root that night, and came back the next evening injured. I took on a solo mission and got careless with the enemy, but when I came back to the house I found it a little too quiet. Usually, by this time Gloria would be all over me checking to see if I got injured or not during my mission, but Gloria wasn't there.

"Gloria?" I called out. Knowing her she wouldn't have gotten out after 8 p.m. and it was already 10:15. Panicking, I started to check the living room, kitchen, and bathroom for her. Our master bedroom was the last place to look and I frantically opened the door to find her. I regretted what I saw... Gloria was on the bed, disheveled with parts of her clothes torn. Her hair covered parts of her face, and blood was everywhere. Her body was in an awkward position, and there were obvious signs of struggle around the room. It wasn't a ninja from what I could see, since there were too many broken objects and not a swift clean kill. I couldn't believe what was in front of me. My life, my love was dead. Our happy future that we could have had was torn away from us. I crawled over to Gloria's lifeless body and cradled her in my arms as I cried...

I later found that it was a woman that was in love with me and a man in love with Gloria that joined forces to kill her off. Since I was an experienced ninja, they had no chance of killing me, but Gloria was a different issue she had no fighting experience whatsoever, so to them she was a siting duck. This psychotic couple had the idea of 'if I can't have him/her, then no one can her/him' thing. When the investigating ANBU told be of this I just started laughing. It wasn't a laugh filled with jokes and happiness, no, it was a laugh of my sanity breaking before me. Losing her over such a petty thing _just made me angry. I was supposed to protect her, but I couldn't even do that. I wouldn't be able to see that perfect smile of hers, hear that melodious laugh, or feel her warmth all because I couldn't protect her... It was right then and there that I decided to find a way for me to get so powerful that I would never lose someone precious to me ever again. I would become immortal and try to bring Gloria back from the dead..._

*End of Flashback*

I laughed to myself as I remember the reason on how I became like the way I was today. An S-Class rouge ninja from Konohagakure, run away from the Akatsuki, and a branded psychopath for my entire life all because of Gloria's death. I never blamed her for the things that happened to me. I've always know that the things I did were my choices and my choices alone. Sighing, I remembered her personality and just thinking how she would have scolded me if she saw me now. For the first time in a long while, I genuinely smiled while thinking of her.

But my thoughts were interrupted as a strange form of chakra came through my door. The rest of the door was sliced into little pieces as Saskuke emerged from the doorway.

"You came...just as I thought you would."

"I have nothing more to learn from you." Sasuke said coldly. "Even here before you, I can become heartless."

~skipped the scene where they fight~

As the terror of Sasuke's jutsu engulfed me I finally found that it was time for me to die. For the first time in a long time, true fear struck in my eyes as I faced off with this fledgling of an Uchiha. I was about to die...

_"Orochimaru..."_ A very familiar voice called out to me in my head. It was faint, but I could hear it in the midst of all this fear and anger...

_"Orochimaru, please just stop. I understand what you have done, but I believe its time for you to stop. Please stop abusing your body with drugs and experiments. I think its time, Oro..."_

"What? Who are you? Why are you in my head?!" I said in my head. (He's not saying these words out loud, this whole conversation is in his head.)  
_  
"Oro, really? You don't even recognize your best friend and ex-fiance's voice?"_ The voice giggled as I was speechless. Without warning she appeared before me next to Sasuke. Sasuke seemed to not be able to see her, my one and only Gloria...

"Gloria?"

_"The one and only." _She said with a smile. _"Oro, don't you think its time to rest now?"_

"What?"

_"I've seen what you've done for the past few years, Oro. I've got to say that I was pretty disappointed in you, but all of those choices you made were all for me, weren't they?"_

"I...I..."

_"Shhhh... don't worry anymore, Oro. Let the past go. If you do, won't you be able to rest in peace with me? I mean, isn't that what you wanted in the first place?"_

"Y..yeah..."

_"We'll be with each other for an eternity after this Oro. There won't be a need to become immortal anymore, so...won't you come with me, Oro?"_

"Yeah. I'm coming, Gloria." And with one last smile, Gloria disappeared as fast as she appeared.

For one last time in my life, I smiled a genuine smile because of Gloria, and now I was going to meet her in the after life...

I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters, only the ones I created.


End file.
